Casual Recruitment
The recruitment of casual workers is devolved and is carried out by the School administrator/Professional services administrator.
What do we mean by casual workers?
Casual workers are a highly valued part of our workforce, supporting flexible working for those who may not want fixed or regular hours. For our services it means we can respond to peaks and fluctuations in workload activity and meet any increased work requirements on an ad hoc basis.
Casual workers are not classed as employees. They have no fixed pattern or regular schedule, and work is offered on an as needed/required basis. Under a casual worker agreement, the University is not obliged to offer any work to the worker and there is no obligation for the worker to accept the work offered.
Casual workers are normally required for short periods, usually to fill season demands during peak holiday periods, special events e.g. support for open days or to cover unexpected workload for a short duration.
It is important to ensure casual work offered is monitored to check that regular periods of work or patterns are not continuously/consistently being worked.
Employment Rights Act (1996) stipulates that there is a statutory presumption of continuous service unless the employer can prove otherwise. Therefore, regular hours and / or a regular working pattern over a substantial period of time are not appropriate for a casual contract.
For more advice or to ascertain if a casual worker is appropriate to fill a resource gap, please speak to your HR Adviser or HR Business Partner.
Note: a contract is required for any employee over 8 weeks whose hours are fixed each week.
Fixed hours and fixed term contracts
If there are fixed hours of work available for a fixed term, a Fixed Term salaried contract is recommended as opposed to a casual contract which is defined as a ‘zero hours’ contract with no fixed hours or working pattern.
In addition, any salaried position lasting longer than 9 months must be advertised. Please check with your HR Adviser or HR Business Partner if you are unsure what type of contract to use for your situation.
Employer costs to consider
The Employers NI rate is 13.8% for any payment over £758.01 a month (secondary NI threshold). This is calculated in each month of payment and is not cumulative.
The additional annual leave costs for very short term or casual contracts can be found within the casual pay scales.
Casual employees will not be automatically entered into a pension scheme unless they trigger auto-enrolment. However, employees can request to join. If an employee is entered into the Pension scheme, the employer will incur an additional cost. This is dependent on the scheme/grade.
The Employers LGPS pension rate is currently 24.8%. (grade 1-5)
The Employers USS pension rate is currently 14.5%. (grade 6 and above)